South African Bank Director Expresses Support for Nazis

South African Reserve Bank under fire for the pro-Nazi views of one its directors, Stephen Goodson.

By Elad Benari

First Publish: 4/20/2012, 3:15 AM

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The South African Reserve Bank has come under fire after an article last week revealed that one of its directors supports Nazi policies.

According to the article, which was published last Friday in the South African Mail & Guardian, Stephen Goodson, who was elected a non-executive director in 2003, holds contentious views that include admiring the economic policies pursued by Hitler in Nazi Germany, a belief that international bankers financed and manipulated the war against Hitler because they saw his model of state capitalism as a threat to their usurious ways.

The article noted that Goodson also believes the Holocaust was a fiction invented to extract vast amounts of compensation from the defeated Germans.

Goodson has argued that similar reasons underpinned the support of the United Nations for the uprising in Libya last year, according to the article. Former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi's usury-free banking system was a threat to global capitalism and had to be destroyed, according to Goodson.

The South African Mail & Guardian also said that Goodson has been pushing pro-Nazi and anti-Semitic views on the internet. In one radio interview last year with American talk show host Deanna Spingola, Goodson expressed his admiration for the social achievements during the Third Reich.

The interview was broadcast on the Republic Broadcasting Network, which was described by the Christian Science Monitor in 2010 as a network “well known to those who study extremism, as well as to the FBI,” the report noted.

Goodson told Spingola during the interview that the Holocaust was “a huge lie” that served several purposes.

“Of course, the principle is to extract enormous sums of money from the Germans as compensation,” he said. “They [international bankers] tarnished that whole period as being one of great evil in order to keep you blind to what is possible.”

Goodson also said in the interview, “Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933 and in six short years he transformed Germany and reduced unemployment for 30% to zero.

“He provided everyone with debt-free and decent housing, excellent labor relations and restored respect and honor to all Germans,” he added. “In these six years, a worker's paradise was created. There was zero inflation and Germany became the most prosperous and powerful country in the history of Europe.”

Goodson also said, according to the Mail & Guardian, that the real reason for World War II was Germany's progressive economic system.

“That was the whole basis of World War II,” he said. “It had nothing to do with human rights or protecting Poland or any of the other reasons that they advance in the history books.

“Germany … could only be admitted to the family of nations if they abided by the rules of the international bankers,” added Goodson.

Spingola, whose radio interviews have centered on topics such as Zionism and Nazi Germany several times, then said, “What country is going to deport the Jews [after the Holocaust]? America? Not hardly. Britain? Not hardly. And that Holocaust myth will prevent any country from evaluating and saying: ‘Oh, we've got to get rid of these people.’ Right?”

Spingola’s website states that she “investigates government and corporate corruption as it relates to the faltering liberties of American citizens and the war-targeted population of other countries. She is not afraid to address controversial issues.”

Goodson appeared to agree with her and said, “Yes, well, they've [Jews] been expelled from over 70 countries, some of them several times. But unfortunately they have such a tight control of the media. Well, there is a small window of hope in that the internet can provide alternative views, but even there they are trying to exercise supervision.”

The Mail & Guardian noted that Goodson's articles appear on a number of extreme right-wing websites, include one called Incog Man, which says it was expelled by hosting site Wordpress after complaints by “Jewish agents.”

The site, according to the report, says it is there to “get the real deal out there and awaken the whites.” It includes images of a rat alongside the Star of David.

Goodson's term ends in July. The Reserve Bank said in a statement quoted by the Mail & Guardian that Goodson, who has served as a director for nine years, was not eligible for re-election in terms of the South African King III code on corporate governance because of his length of service.

When asked about Goodson's personal views, the Reserve Bank said it did not comment in public about its directors.

“However, the bank does not in any way wish to be associated with any ill-considered comments of this nature.”

The South Africa Israel Public Affairs Committee Cape Town (SAIPAC) strongly condemned Goodson’s views as well as the statement by the Reserve Bank.

In an e-mailed statement received by Arutz Sheva, SAIPAC Chairman David Hersch writes that the response quoted in the article by the Reserve Bank “is just not good enough. Goodson should be fired immediately or made to resign immediately. It is simply not good enough for the Reserve Bank to state that his directorship ends in July and he will not be reappointed. They should be ashamed to have someone like this on their board of directors and now that he has been exposed, they should act immediately.”

Hersch adds, “It is also noted that Gill Marcus, the current governor of the Reserve Bank, is Jewish. As for the Board of Deputies, it is wishy-washy, weak and fearful in the extreme, as usual, and the response should have been expressed in the strongest terms possible demanding that Goodson be fired immediately.

“It is time we had people on the Board of Deputies with guts and the courage to stand up and be counted and seen to be standing up for our community, Israel and the Jewish people without fear,” Hersch writes. “If the Board of Deputies does not have the leadership nor the people to do so, then we call on them to resign and allow others who do have the wisdom, fortitude and courage to do so.

“As for Goodson, we call on the Reserve Bank to not wait until July and to fire him as a director immediately. When did the Reserve Bank first know of Goodson's activities and views? By not firing him immediately, the Reserve Bank condones his conduct and views. If the Reserve Bank was aware of his views for some time and in the past, then they condone these views. Silence is assent. It is logical that his fellow directors have had knowledge of his views and exposure to him for nine and a half years since 2003.

“We also call on the South African Government to make a clear unequivocal statement condemning Goodson and distancing themselves from him and his statements, opinions, his denial of the Holocaust and adherence to anti-Semitic hate speech and falsehood. The South African Reserve Bank has a board of directors consisting of a Governor, three Deputy Governors, and eleven Directors. The Governor and Deputy Governors are appointed for five year terms by the President of the Republic of South Africa in consultation with the Minister of Finance. Four of the directors are also appointed by the President of the Republic of South Africa for terms of three years. The remaining seven directors are appointed by the Shareholders of the Bank, also for a three year term.”